SEATTLE - City Light crews were making progress late today in restoring storm-related power outages. Freezing rain falling on snow-laden trees brought many branches into contact with overhead power lines, causing most of the outages.

From a mid-morning high of about 45,500 City Light customers without electricity, line crews had reduced the number to about 25,000 by 4:30 p.m.

Most of the outages occurred at the north and south ends of City Light's service territory. The communities of Shoreline, Richmond Beach, Lake Forest Park and parts of Northeast Seattle were affected in the North End. In the South End, outages occurred primarily in Burien, Tukwila, West Seattle and unincorporated King County neighborhoods.

It could take several more hours before all power is restored. Some of the damage to wires and poles is difficult to locate or access. In other cases, restoration work involves extensive branch or tree removal.

Even after main feeder lines are repaired and re-energized, there could be isolated outages that have not been reported to City Light. If customers can see lights on around their neighborhood tonight, but their lights are still out, they should call City Light at 684-3000 to report their outage - even if they have called previously.